Amanda Alvarez, Director

Mandy is a graduate of Nova Southeastern University, where she earned a Master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Prior to that she attended Xavier University and graduated with a Dual-Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Spanish. From a young age Mandy felt called to work with children, and she entered the speech therapy field with passion for connecting with and nurturing kids. At the heart of her work is a longtime sensitivity to the impact emotional security can have on overall development. Her strong desire to highlight and support social development led her to co-found Integrated Children’s Therapy and to evolve the unique and highly successful approach of incorporating social groups into therapy. In addition to her role at ICT, Mandy has frequently traveled to Mexico to train speech therapists and develop home programs for families. She has also worked with many international families here in Miami developing home programs to be followed by professionals in their home countries. Mandy is active in the community, creating curriculums and lecturing on various topics such as supporting development through facilitated social groups, understanding and managing behaviors in the classroom, understanding and managing social conflicts in school aged children, and bullying. She also teaches narrative development and social thinking classes to grades K-8 at a prominent local school. Mandy has extensive training in the DIR/Floortime method and is certified in PROMPT, Social Thinking, Therapeutic Listening, Fast ForWard, Sequential Oral Sensory Feeding, and the AEIOU Systematic Approach to Feeding. She has also had training in NDT (Neuro-Developmental Treatment) and TAMO (Movement Organization Therapy). She is the mother of two young boys, which she prides as her most rewarding accomplishment.